A thriving media is an essential component of a healthy civil society—and by extension, democracy—serving not only as a conduit of vital information but also as a watchdog to hold the powerful accountable. But as the 2024 elections approach, the media, specifically local news, finds itself at a critical juncture, and funders are working to extend a lifeline to ailing outlets.
The Knight Foundation recently announced a nearly $7 million commitment to support local news organizations in swing states and counter misinformation, with the aim of creating a more informed electorate in the run up to state and local elections. As its President and CEO Maribel Pérez Wadsworth commented, “The news crisis in America is urgent, and its devastating impact on American democracy is felt more acutely during election season.” So, what exactly is at the crux of this crisis and how are funders responding?
According to recent research by Northwestern University, in communities across the country, access to local news sources is diminishing, a trend which began in the early aughts and is picking up speed. Last year, local newspapers disappeared at a rate of approximately 2.5 every week, and since 2005, the U.S. has lost one out of every three of its newspapers and nearly two out of three newspaper journalism jobs.
As a result of these trends, more than 50% of all U.S. counties are now considered news deserts, defined as having “limited access to critical news and information that nurtures both grassroots democracy and social cohesion.” Print, broadcast, and digital news outlets are scarce in these counties, which enjoy access to only one of them, oftentimes a newspaper, or none at all.
Of those newspapers that have managed to survive, the American Journalism Project reports that more than 50% are owned by financial institutions which have cut costs to the point that it has “stripped newsrooms of the resources necessary to produce consistent, original reporting on basic information. People who live in communities that still have a local newspaper may also effectively be living in news deserts.”
Changing habits around news consumption is one contributing factor to this decline. Despite valuing local journalism, Americans increasingly favor online outlets such as news websites or social media over print newspapers (or even television), and only a small fraction of them (15%) actually pay to access local news. Echoing the contraction of the music industry following the demise of CDs, this loss of a tangible product—landing with a thud on driveways at dawn—has likely made consumers more reluctant to part with their cash.
This is compounded by the upending of the industry’s traditional business models. Newspapers used to derive 80% of their income from advertising, but in the two decades leading up to 2020, advertising revenue declined by approximately that same percentage. Some publications have converted into nonprofits in order to weather these challenges.
The knock-on effects of these changes on democracy are myriad.
News deserts tend to have lower voter turnout rates, fewer candidates running for office, and decreased levels of voter awareness about candidates and elected officials, which in turn leads to drops in civic engagement and jumps in government waste and polarization.
Experts fear that the news crisis in the U.S. will destabilize this year’s election as voters increasingly turn to unvetted online sources such as Tik Tok and the threat of AI-generated deepfakes looms. Some cite this crisis as a contributor to the false belief that the 2020 election was fraudulent.
How exactly are funders addressing these challenges?
The Knight Foundation’s new initiative will bolster election coverage by awarding one grant to a local news organization in every U.S. swing state, each of which will take on the role of an “anchor” and work with partners in their state to distribute high-caliber stories about the election. Funding will also enable journalism support organizations to steer publishers through the complexities of adopting new technologies.
The Foundation is also partnering with the Associated Press to bolster small news outlets and has created the Knight Election Hub to support newsrooms providing election coverage by offering free and subsidized resources such as access to data, polling, and software as well as training on how to conduct extensive background research on candidates.
Knight is one of several major grantmakers, including the MacArthur Foundation, the Hewlett Foundation, and the Ford Foundation, that have chosen to support the local news ecosystem through the formation of Press Forward, a national coalition of funders that has pledged half a billion dollars to “strengthen local newsrooms, close longstanding gaps in journalism coverage, advance public policy that expands access to local news, and to scale the infrastructure the sector needs to thrive.”
Underlying Press Forward’s commitment is a deep concern for the integrity of the American political process. Their homepage banner reads, “Democracy flourishes when people have access to reliable information.”
Press Forward offers grants through a pooled fund administered by the Miami Foundation, aligned grantmaking that enables individual foundations to directly support local news organizations, and chapters where funders collaborate to address local needs. The coalition recently held a call for proposals aimed at increasing local news coverage in historically underserved communities, through which it will award over 100 general operating grants of $100,000 each. Another call centering on local news transformation is planned for the fall.
NewsMatch is another collaborative effort supporting local news outlets through its fundraising platform. Individual donors can choose from a variety of nonpartisan news outlets, which may be filtered by places covered, reach, topics, and languages. NewsMatch then provides matching funds raised from family foundations, local businesses, and major donors to amplify the impact of these donations.
Two independent funders addressing the local news crisis include The Democracy Fund and the Lenfest Institute. Through its Equitable Journalism portfolio, the Democracy Fund (applications by invitation only) supports local news and information ecosystems as well as leaders of color working to increase equity, justice, and democracy through the media space.
The Lenfest Institute awards grants throughout the U.S., with an emphasis on Philadelphia, PA, “to help local news publishers and journalism professionals develop sustainable solutions for local journalism in service of our communities and democracy.” In addition to grants, the Institute runs training programs, offers strategic advisory services, and creates resources such as the Beyond Print Toolkit, which helps print publications make the transition to digital.
Local news outlets are in a state of upheaval and will no doubt confront further challenges in an election year already marked by an assassination attempt and the rise of AI technologies capable of spreading false narratives at lightning speed. Thus, the primary question is whether this substantial support from the philanthropic community, both financial and technical, will be sufficient to counteract the forces accelerating the demise of local journalism. At the very least, it should enable a few more individuals to cast their votes with confidence, as they make more informed choices at the ballot box in November.